Commentary

Brexanolone approval ‘marks an important milestone’


 

Dr. Gordon is the director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the lead federal agency for research on mental disorders. He oversees an extensive research portfolio of basic and clinical research that seeks to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure. Dr. Hillefors works at the NIMH and oversees the Translational Therapeutics Program in the division of translational research, focusing on the development of novel treatments and biomarkers and early phase clinical trials. She received her MD and PhD in neuroscience at the Karolinska Institute, Sweden. Dr. Schmidt joined the NIMH in 1986 after completing his psychiatric residency at the University of Toronto. He is the chief of the Section on Behavioral Endocrinology, within the Intramural Research Program at the NIMH, where his laboratory studies the relationship between hormones, stress, and mood – particularly in the areas of postpartum depression, severe premenstrual dysphoria, and perimenopausal depression.

References

1. J Psychiatric Res. 2018 Sep;104:235-48.

2. Br J Psychiatry. 2003 Oct;183:279-81.

3. NIMH Director’s Messages. 2019 Mar 20.

4. Lancet. 2017 Jul 29;390(10093):480-9.

5. Lancet. 2018 Sep 22; 392(10152):1058-70.

6. Sage Therapeutics News. 2019 Jan 7.

7. Marinus Pharmaceuticals. 2017 Jun 27.

8. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03460756. 2019 Mar.

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